Headstarting is a conservation technique for endangered species, in which young animals are raised artificially and subsequently released into the wild. The technique allows a greater proportion of the young to reach independence, without predation or loss to other natural causes.[1][2][3][4]
The technique was trialled on land-based mammals for the first time in Australia. In the three years prior to May 2021, young bridled nail-tail wallabies were placed in a fenced-off area of 10-hectare (25-acre) area within Avocet Nature Refuge in Queensland. The population, safe from their main predator, feral cats, more than doubled over this period.[6]
^ abAlberts, Allison; Lemm, Jeffrey; Grant, Tandora; Jackintell, Lori (2004). "Testing the Utility of Headstarting as a Conservation Strategy for West Indian Iguanas". Iguanas: Biology and Conservation. University of California Press. p. 210. ISBN978-0-520-23854-1.